Various metallic pedestal bases of the kind having support legs radiating from a central column or pedestal have been employed in the past for the support of modern office chairs and other pieces of furniture suitable for office and home alike. While such bases are very popular because of their aesthetic qualities and durability, good chairs using such bases tend to be expensive, are often relatively heavy and consequently, are rather awkward to move around. A problem which contributes to the above arises because of the difficulty in securely fastening the radiating legs to the central pedestal or post on which the chair sits. When a welded construction is employed, as is customary with prior designs, the welded joints between the central post and the radiating legs are highly stressed and prone to failure, particularly when heavy loads are applied, for example, when an individual sits in the chair. The joint between the bottom edge portion of a leg element and the vertical post is of particular concern because this joint is subject to the highest tensile stress when the chair is loaded. Because of this, extra care must be taken to insure that good strong welds are made. The steel leg elements and the central column are necessarily made of extra heavy gauge material in order to sustain the stresses and to prevent flexure and deformation of the metal in the area of the welded joints.
It can be imagined that the extra labor necessary to accomplish the above and the relatively heavy materials required, contribute substantially to the cost of the chair base.
Another problem which arises with bases of the kind described is that the substantial amount of welding necessary produces scaling and discoloration near the welded joints. As a result, it is not possible to use preplated parts. Once bases of this kind have been assembled and welded, they must be carefully cleaned to remove scaling and discoloration prior to painting or coating. Although a certain amount of discoloration and unsightly welded joints may be hidden cosmetically as by means of an exterior shell as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,669, it is desirable as much as possible to eliminate the need for exterior masking in order to reduce material and labor costs.
Other prior patents of which I am aware of relating to the art of chair bases are U.S. Pat. Nos. 492,554, 2,218,583, 2,470,397, 3,186,064 and 3,186,669.